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August 22, 2009. I will never, ever forget that date. That was — drum roll please — the day I became an official Grinnellian. At 3:45 a.m., I got out of my cozy, familiar bed in my parents’ home, brushed my teeth, and said goodbye to my sisters and cat. My parents and I loaded up the van, took a deep breath, and headed off to Iowa. After hitting a few different McDonald’s on the four-hour drive from Kansas City to Grinnell, we arrived.

I walked into the first-floor lounge of my dorm, trying not to pass out from nervousness. Never have I felt such a range of emotions. I was excited to be at Grinnell, worried that I knew no one, sad that I would leave my parents, eager to begin my college career, and petrified about everything else. I didn’t have time to dwell on any of these feelings, though. I was immediately greeted by our lovely residence life coordinator Katie and a New Student Orientation (NSO) leader. They gave me my NSO folder, told me where I had to be later that day, and welcomed me to Grinnell.

About then I realized just how much I had to do! Unpack the van, unpack the boxes, fill out forms, organize my room, run to Walmart, get my student card, and, oh yeah, say goodbye to my parents.

But first things first. We went outside to unload the van. Before I knew it, a swarm of women’s soccer players descended to help. They moved my entire carload of stuff in one trip. I beat my roommate to campus, so after a quick phone call to see which side of the room she wanted, we opened the boxes and got down to business.

We were almost done unpacking when my roommate arrived, accompanied by her dad and most of her stuff. All of my nervousness about not getting along with her disappeared as soon as we met.

That was one thing off my list of worries, so we moved on to the next task: eating lunch. I had been in the dining hall when I visited campus as a prospective student, but there’s something very different about eating the first meal as a new member of the Grinnell community. There was so much to take in and so many new faces, but every single person was kind and welcoming. After being on campus for only four hours, I could tell that I was home.

The rest of the day flew by. We played some icebreaker games, went to dinner with the students from my floor, and then all the first-years met in Herrick Chapel for a session on diversity. The fact that Grinnell cares enough about making people feel accepted to address the issue on our very first day was awesome.

I met with my First-Year Tutorial class afterward outside the chapel under a beautiful starry sky, and we had the opportunity to grill an upperclassman on life at Grinnell. It was reassuring to receive answers to my most pressing anxieties about adapting to college. His enthusiasm and love for Grinnell was contagious, and I could already feel my Pioneer pride building.

Before I knew it, it was midnight. As I curled up in my new bed after a long, draining day, I smiled to myself. I was finally a Grinnellian.